The invention relates to a process for manufacturing a contacting device in which an end section of an electrical connecting line is guided to a first flat side of a leaf-shaped contact support, led through a recess of the contact support and connected in an electrically conductive fashion to a contacting piece on the second flat side of the contact support lying opposite. In addition, the invention relates to a correspondingly designed contacting device and a use of this contacting device.
From the German Registered Utility Model 81 09 089 a contacting device is already known which is manufactured in the way mentioned at the beginning. In this publication, for the purpose of feeding a switching current from one side of the contact support engaging through a recess of the contact support constructed as a punch-through, one end of an electrical connecting line is connected in an electrically conductive fashion to a contacting piece on the other side of the contact support. The one end of the electrical connecting line and the recess of the contact support, respectively, have to be exactly matched to one another in their dimensions in order to permit the one end to be fed through the recess in a fashion which is as free of play as possible and yet as simple as possible. In particular when manufacturing relatively small contacting devices, the positioning of the one end relative to the recess of the contact support is difficult and causes an additional production expenditure which contributes to the production costs. In the case of changes to the dimensions of the recess of the contact support, whether they be constructionally necessary changes or due to tool wear, matching of the tool which manufactures the one end is required.
European reference 0,167,688 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,647,743) already discloses a contacting arrangement in which a connecting line in the form of a stranded conductor is connected directly to a contacting piece. This publication is particularly concerned with the problem that the contact support in the form of a central contact spring is to be provided on both sides with a contacting piece. In order to cold weld the connecting stranded conductor it is therefore proposed in this publication to allow one of the contacting pieces to extend over the width of the contact spring end and to cold weld the stranded conductor to the protruding part. The second contacting piece is constructed in this publication as a contacting rivet with a round cross-section which is connected by a corresponding projection, engaging through a hole of the spring, to the elongate contacting piece first mentioned. These round contacting pieces require a relatively high degree of production expenditure; in addition, there is the risk that the two associated contacting pieces are rotated in the hole of the contact spring by tensional forces on the stranded conductor, as a result of which the position of the elongate contacting piece in relation to its corresponding contacting element would change.